The popularity of BMW's MINI E test program in the United States has evidently prompted the company to expand production beyond the original 500 cars and add a smaller test fleet in Europe. The original plan, as announced last fall, was for 500 of the battery-powered MINIs to be made available in the U.S. and split between Southern California and the New York/New Jersey area. According to MINI USA spokeswoman Nathalie Bauters, there will be 450 of the cars in the U.S. with an additional 105 cars in Europe. Of the European fleet, 50 will go to the German capitol of Berlin, 40 to the British capitol in London and the last 15 will be used in and around Münich, hometown to BMW. That makes a total of 555 electric MINIs in a year-long (and controversial) field test. In all likelihood we will be hearing something about the next phase of BMW's electrification plans within the next 12 months, possibly at the LA Auto Show this fall where we first saw the MINI E last year.


[Source: BMW, Bigblogg.Motoring]

BMW has gotten a lot of press (some bad) for their MINI E project. Even though the all-electric car comes with a plug, the plug-in advocacy group Plug In America (PIA) has a problem with the way that the Bavarians might be able to get a lot of legislative good will without really putting EVs on the road for good.

PIA released a statement (read it after the jump) that criticizes CARB's loophole that could allow BMW to get as many Zero Emission Vehicle credits for the one-year lease of the electric cars as it would for a standard vehicle production program. PIA's legislative director, Jay Friedland, said that, "CARB is allowing BMW to game the system by accruing the maximum number of ZEV credits with the least amount of effort." Friedland said that lease-only programs are what led to the EV crush-fest in the 1990s, something that long-time PIA members still remember as a real slap in the face. PIA wants BMW to only get the credits if the MINI Es are also offered for sale.

Another criticism of the lease program is that, according to PIA, when the June 30 deadline got closer and closer, BMW began:


Not long ago, we heard that the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department got a good deal on some MINI Es.

CARB's response was to say that it will look at its regulations next year and that "we've urged BMW to consider extending that one-year lease." Undoubtedly, there will be more to come on this.


[Source: PIA, Reuters]

UPDATE: typo fixed.

Ford isn't the only automaker involved in a new EV test program being funded by the Technology Strategy Board in the UK. BMW will also be a part of the year-long, £25 million field test with its MINI E. Scottish and Southern Energy will be testing the cars along with the Focus EVs we reported on previously. Also participating in the evaluation will be Oxford Brookes University's Sustainable Vehicle Engineering Centre, the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), the Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council. Oxford, of course, is home to the MINI factory along with some old university.

The utility company will install public and private charging stations around the Oxford area for use by the drivers of the cars and monitoring usage data. The MINI E is powered by a 35 kWh lithium ion battery pack and electric motor. 450 MINI Es are currently being distributed to lessees here in the United States as part of an even larger public field test.


[Source: BMW]
Photos Copyright ©2008 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

Pasadena, California resident Mark Winkworth is one of the 450 individuals in Southern California and the New York/New Jersey areas that made it through the MINI E screening process. After having received the word that he had been accepted back in May, he'd been waiting (im)patiently until this past Friday. At that point he got the call from his local dealer that car #053 was ready for pickup.

Mark quickly discovered the impressive acceleration that comes as a result of the torquey electric motor. Over the next 12 months, Mark will be documenting his experiences driving the British-German-American electric car at his new blog, MINIwink.com. So far there hasn't been much to report except that his neighbors are very interested in how the car performs. We, too, will be following the exploits of Mark and other MINI E drivers over the coming year.


[Source: MINIwink.com]

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) is getting in on BMW's MINI E action in a big way. The LA County Board of Supervisors have given their approval to a deal that will see a squadron of 17 of the AC Propulsion-electrified retro-cutes join the force as part of the testing program now underway. While we believe any firearms present during negotiations remained holstered, the boys in brown bagged a steal of a deal and will pay only $10 per month per car. Mere mortals in the year-long program are being asked to shell out $850 per month.

If you live in LA county, you have our sympathies don't look for one of these "hot" Es to appear in your rear view with lights a blazin'. According to LASD spokesperson Steve Whitmore, they will stationed at administrative offices, in specialized units, used for recruitment, and for volunteers.


[Source: KTLA]

With MINI Es finally being delivered to the 450 test drivers in New York and California, a problem has cropped up that will limit the ability of many of those people to actually use the car. When MINI USA was taking applications for leases on the new EV, among the requirements were a garage with 220V electrical service. This was necessary in order to be able to charge the 35 kWh battery in four hours. When the car is delivered, MINI sends along an electrician to install a special wall box for charging.

The problem is the non-standard charging cable. In many of the areas where the cars are being distributed, local building codes require Underwriters Laboratories approved electrical hardware. Approval is still pending from UL on the 220V charging cable so it can't yet be distributed in those areas. The cars are all being delivered this month but roughly 300 of the recipients will have to charge from 110V wall sockets until they get UL-approved cables. That means a full charge will take about 23 hours. MINI USA spokeswoman Nathalie Bauters told USA Today that the company expects to have UL approval for the cable and have them all distributed by the end of July.


[Source: USA Today Open Road]

Despite thousands of people signing up for a chance to lease the MINI E, only 500 are being produced at this stage, with 50 of those destined for Berlin. Now, after months of winnowing down the list, the very first car has been delivered to one very happy customer. After meeting all the necessary requirements and having a charger installed in his garage, Peter Trepp took delivery of his shiny new ride last Friday. He had actually just test-driven one the day before and had learned then of his impending good fortune.

Numbered 111, the electric two-seater is Peter's to enjoy for a year and he already expects that the parting will be difficult. His first drive in his car, like ours, occurred in bad L.A. traffic but he was more than OK with that and enjoyed that entire slow ride home. Trepp advises other future MINI E "pioneers" that they will quickly get used to not having to touch the brake pedal. The regenerative braking is relatively strong and, he says, "not bad at all." Drivers won't have to worry about the people behind them being unaware when the car's momentum decreases as the brake lights will come on when the foot is lifted from the accelerator. You can follow Peters MINI E experience at his blog which he has diligently been updating since March. Congrats sir, and enjoy.


[Source: Plugged-In With Peter's Mini E via USA Today]

Jay Leno is no stranger to electric vehicles, having owned or driven EVs as wide ranging as the 1909 Baker Electric to the Vectrix motorscooter, Zero X motorcycle and the Tesla Roadster. The latest EV that seems to have caught the denim-clad celebrity's attention is the new MINI E. Jay found some time to meet with a couple of representatives from BMW and they discussed the merits of the zero-emission vehicle on video. Later, Jay took the car out for a quick little silent drive and he stretched the legs of the AC Propulsion drivetrain in both city and highway loops. Overall, Jay had plenty of good things to say about the experience, especially about its performance and the short recharge time due to the high-capacity charger that's included as part of the $850 per-month lease package. Click past the break to watch the video. Thanks for the tip, M. Broz!

[Source: Jay Leno's Garage]

It's no surprise that there is a lot of demand for the all-electric version of the MINI. We heard that London might get some of the limited-supply MINI E's last fall, but now the Telegraph is saying that a plug-in version of the MINI could be "on sale in Britain" by the end of 2009 (we assume the lease-only model for these cars will continue). If MINI's test program does move to the UK, it would expand the test areas beyond Germany and the U.S. to the iconic car's home turf. That's fitting, no?

As for the already-announced test locations, the New York and LA participants should be getting their MINI Es in the next few weeks while Berlin and Munich residents need to wait until later this spring.


[Source: Telegraph]